Learning Sets of Antecedent-restricted Functional and Multivalued Dependencies with Queries

Identifying dependencies that hold in relational databases is essential to produce good databases designs. In particular, functional and multivalued dependencies are used to obtain relation schemes that satisfy the 4th normal form, a property that is considered satisfactory for most applications. It is known that the class of sets of functional dependencies is learnable in the exact model of learning with queries. Also a subclass of multivalued dependencies, the class of consequent-restricted multivalued dependencies, has been shown to be learnable in this model. In this paper, we present an algorithm that learns a class that contains sets of both functional and multivalued dependencies under some restrictions imposed on the antecedents of dependencies. We also show, as a by-product, an algorithm that learns a non-trivial subclass of 2-quasi Horn formulas, closely related to the class just mentioned.     

The autochrome process

Abstract

The autochrome was the first successful commercial colour process. It was invented by Louis and Auguste Lumiere at the tum of the century, patented in 1903 and produced until the 1950s on a sheet film called ‘Filmcolor’. Many articles were published between 1903 when the autochrome process was unveiled to the public, and 1935 when the decline of the screen process began and the first colour films with chromogenic development appeared. There are detailed deseriptions of the plate's range of use, its characteristies and processing, but these publications are very sketchy as to the nature of the components. The most detailed documents, on which this article is based, are the ‘report on the titles and work of Louis Lumiere’ published in 1918, the factory notebooks written by Louis Lumiere or M. Perrigot,¹ and the archives of the Lumiere firm, which are now scattered in various locations.     

Role of Learning Algorithm in Neural Network-Based Backcalculation of Flexible Pavements

Nondestructive testing (NDT) methods are widely used for the performance evaluation of flexible pavements. Falling weight deflectometer (FWD), which measures time-domain deflections resulting from applied impulse loads, is the most popular technique among all NDT methods. The evaluation of the FWD data requires the inversion of mechanical pavement properties using a backcalculation tool that includes both a forward pavement response model and an optimization algorithm. Neural networks (NNs) have also emerged as alternative tools that can be employed for pavement backcalculation problems relative to their real-time processing abilities. However, there have been no comprehensive analyses in previous studies that focus on the learning algorithm and the architecture of a NN model, which considerably affect backcalculation results. In this study, 284 different NN models were developed using synthetic training and testing databases obtained by layered elastic theory. Results indicated that both the learning algorithm and network architecture play important roles in the performance of the NN based backcalculation process.     

Analysis and design of a stabilized fly ash as pavement base material

The main objective of this study is to utilize a class F fly ash as base material in road pavements. Since class F fly ashes do not manifest desirable engineering properties for this purpose, it was decided to stabilize the material with cement. Fly ash may be utilized with or without aggregate as a pavement layer. It should be noted that, in this research only aggregate free stabilized mixtures (fly ash and cement only) were used since the aim was to utilize high volumes of this waste material. Cement content in the stabilized, laboratory prepared samples were between 2%, 4%, 8%, and 10% by total weight. Initially, Texas triaxial test was carried out to justify the suitability of the fly ash as pavement material. Then, mechanical tests were performed to obtain the fundamental properties of the cement stabilized material in order to analyze the pavement structure. Under repeated wheel loading, fatigue cracking is the primary mode of failure of stabilized materials in which cracks initiate due to the repeated tensile stresses. Utilizing an accelerated full scale road test data for the fatigue performance of cement stabilized fly ash and performing a mechanistic-empirical design procedure, required layer thickness for different lives were obtained for different amount of cement content.     

Polyamine deactivation of integrated poly(dimethylsiloxane) structures investigated by radionuclide imaging and capillary electrophoresis experiments

The poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) material provides a number of advantageous features, such as flexibility, elasticity, and transparency, making it useful in integrated analytical systems. Hard fused-silica capillary structures and soft PDMS channels can easily be combined by a tight fit, which offers many alternatives for structure combinations. PDMS and fused silica are in different ways prone to adsorption of low levels of organic compounds. The need for modification of the inner wall surface of PDMS channels may often be necessary, and in this paper, we describe an easy and effective method using the amine-containing polymer PolyE-323 to deactivate both fused-silica and PDMS surfaces. The adsorption of selected peptides to untreated surfaces was compared to PolyE-323-modified surfaces, using both radionuclide imaging and capillary electrophoresis experiments. The polyamine modification displayed a substantially reduced adsorption of three hydrophobic test peptides compared to the native PDMS surface. Filling and storage of aqueous solution were also possible in PolyE-323-modified PDMS channels. In addition, hybrid microstructures of fused silica and PDMS could simultaneously be deactivated in one simple coating procedure.     

The use of human hepatocytes to select compounds based on their expected hepatic extraction ratios in humans

Stent deployment strategies have changed significantly in the past 2 yr, with "high-pressure" balloon inflations postdilatation being performed in the large majority of cases. There is currently little information about the effects of high pressure on the geometry of stent expansion and on the adjacent areas of the vessel wall. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging is well-suited to investigate these issues, since it provides information not only about stent expansion and apposition but also about adjacent vessel-wall morphology at transition points such as the articulation site of the stent and the the stent borders. We report on the results of a cohort of 30 consecutive stent cases which were systematically examined by IVUS following high-pressure inflation. All deployments were deemed successful by angiographic inspection. However, in 6 cases, intimal disruptions or "edge tears" were noted at the stent borders by IVUS. In 5 cases, edge tears were seen to occur at the distal border, whereas in one case edge tears were seen at both the proximal and distal edges of the stent. No angiographic and sonographic parameters were different except percent plaque area at the stent margins, which was significantly higher (53 +/- 11%) in the lesions with edge tears, compared to 40 +/- 10% plaque area in the group without evidence of pocket flaps (P = 0.007). This experience suggests that intimal disruptions or "edge tears" are a relatively common occurrence following high-pressure stent deployment, and may be related to the extent of marginal dissections.     

Trajectory tracking control based on non-singular fractional derivatives for the PUMA 560 robot arm

Multibody System Dynamics - The use of principal points and principal vectors in the formulation of the equations of motion of a general 4R planar four-bar linkage is shown with two kinds of...     

Geometry dependence of coercivity in Ni nanowire arrays

Magnetic properties of arrays of nanowires produced inside the pores of anodic alumina membranes have been studied by means of vibrating sample magnetometer techniques. In these systems the length of the wires strongly influences the coercivity of the array. A simple model for the coercivity as a function of the geometry is presented which exhibits good agreement with experimental results. Magnetostatic interactions between the wires are responsible for a decrease of the coercive field.     

Prediction of the Candida antarctica lipase A protein structure by comparative modeling and site-directed mutagenesis

A number of model structures of the CalA suggested by comparative modeling were tested by site-directed mutagenesis. Enzyme variants were created where amino acids predicted to play key roles for the lipase activity in the different models were replaced by an inert amino acid (alanine). The results from activity measurements of the overproduced and purified mutant enzymes indicate a structure where the active site consists of amino acid residues Ser184, His366, and Asp334 and in which there is no lid. This model can be used for future targeted modifications of the enzyme to obtain new substrate acceptance, better thermostability, and higher enantioselectivity.